Health dept begins polio programme in Ludhiana

The health department started a five day polio program on Sunday wherein around 1,644 teams will give polio drops to around 3,85,579 children (0-5 yrs) at their door step.Total 7,97,724 houses are to be covered.TNN | Updated: September 26, 2016, 08:06 IST

(Representative image)Ludhiana: The health department started a five day polio program on Sunday wherein around 1,644 teams will give polio drops to around 3,85,579 children (0-5 yrs) at their door step.

Total 7,97,724 houses are to be covered. Civil surgeon, Renu Chhatwal said that the program was started from the urban primary health centre in Salemtabri in presence of vice chairman of traders board, Punjab Madan Lal Bagga. Further she said that there are around 3,288 members in the teams which have been formed and teams will be conducting the program in rural areas for three days while in urban areas for five days.

The teams included 54 transit teams, 81 mobile teams. District health officer Jasvir Singh said that India has been declared polio free country as no case has been reported from 2011 to 2016. However polio is still affecting lives in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Further he said that Ludhiana being an industrial hub, large number of migrants also come to the city and the teams cover migrant population during the program. Punjab home guards are also helping them in the program, he added.